Does Gaia GPS work offline?

You do not need to be connected to a cellular or wifi network to use Gaia GPS. GPS-enabled devices do not require a cellular or wifi network connection to provide location data—this is a common misunderstanding.

Gaia GPS lets you download maps before you go on a trip. You can use your device’s GPS with the downloaded maps to navigate offline.

5 Comments

While this note is helpful as far as it goes, it does not explain how the offline feature works. What steps to we take? In what order? When we are "offline" (I guess that means airplane mode?), how do offline maps work? I tried to simulate this, and didn't see what difference it made. Is that because GaiaGPS already downloaded a full map of my area, and uses that by default? I saved a copy of a nearby State Park, but then when I went "offline", I got the large area map anyway. Sooo...not sure when to use offline maps. BTW, the offline map was only 1 MB, so not much of a hit on my SD card.

I had the same question; it gives instructions and raises the point that we should download maps for offline use, but then how to use them, steps etc, how offline works, why I should be using it, how do I choose the appropriate scale...when I get to my trailhead, should I be bringing up the "offline" map for track manager?

Once you have downloaded a map, you will be able to turn on airplane mode and still see your location on the map, there are no additional steps necessary.

Rich was able to see a map offline that he hadn't downloaded, because the app 'caches' recently viewed maps for fast scrolling, but the cache can expire without warning, so you should always download maps for a trip.

Shannielouhoo, I suggest choosing the default zoom level when downloading a map. If make it lower, you will lose quality.

Hi Ashli, thank you for the further information. That is really helpful. I have another question related to this though. I downloaded my gpx file to gaia GPS (instructions there were really helpful thx!!!) and it appears in my map. So I downloaded the map, selected my zoom level and area, saved the map for offline use, however, it didn't save my gpx file, my route for my hike! Do you have any further suggestions on how to make sure my gpx transfers over to my offline map so I can follow the route and see my location in airplane mode? Thx!